DOING GOD’S WILL

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON JUNE 1^st, 2008

Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me: 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven - but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven."

Un 2004, when I moved into the condo I now live in, on the doorposts of the door was the miniature of the Jewish Law. I was not surprised by this because the previous owner was Jewish. The first reading today, from Deuteronomy 11, this explains the custom.

But first of all we have to read what it says in the previous chapter (Deuteronomy 10:13): "And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul - and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord".   Having said that in chapter 10, Moses now tells the people to keep the Law in their hearts and always before them: "Bind them as a sign upon your hand", he said, "and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes…and you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house".

The meaning was obvious - they must not forget the laws of God. They were to have the laws in their mind, in their sight, and to think of them at their going out and their coming in day by day. As well as taking this to heart, they took it literally - and so developed the custom of the placing of the Laws on the doorposts of Jewish homes, and of the phylacteries on their foreheads and arms.

Centuries later, by the time of Jesus, these had become, like many religious practices, a ritual - but the meaning and inspiration was not always practiced.   On more than one occasion Jesus accused them of being hypocrites - of not practicing what they preached. He even called the authorities white-washed sepulchers: shining on the outside but dead on the inside.   No wonder they wanted to get rid of him!

Jesus’ concern was always that the practice of religion should reflect its faith.   In today's Gospel he emphasizes that it is what we do that is important, not what we say> Which is another take on the principle, Practice what you preach. It's a very blunt way of understanding what this Gospel means.

This Gospel, from Matthew 7, addressed a particular problem evident at the time: charismatic preachers, big on prophecy, exorcisms and the mighty works of God, will not get you into heaven just because they use the Lord's name.

In the parable of the house built on rock, Jesus declares that we must live according to his words. If not we will fail like the house built on sand.

Is therefore the expression of religious practice to no avail?   Of course not!   Taking our Jewish brethren as an example, these very traditions - the phylacteries and outward expressions of faith, along with practices such as dietary customs, like not eating pork or shellfish - all demonstrate that these people are not only Jewish by custom and race, but express the faith of the Jewish people. And, of course, the practices are based on God's Law, and express that very faith.

So the practice of religion is a good thing.

When applied to Christianity, the problem is that we hardly ever practice customs that express our faith.   For instance, in Lent we try to fast - but Christians are hardly known for their dietary disciplines!   We like to feast more than fast.

What happened to no meat on Friday and the traditional fish supper that I remember as a child?   What about our prayer book calendar with its wonderful rhythm of fasting and feasting through the whole year?   And what about other customs and practices?

There is no more powerful witness to Christ than when a footballer or athlete makes the sign of the cross at the beginning of their competition.   That ought to be a natural thing for Christians - the signing of the cross - for it is a wonderful expression of our faith. Unfortunately Episcopalians often confine it to Church on Sunday rather than part of our daily praying and living.

What has happened is that Christians are reluctant, perhaps even scared, to appear different.   Muslims don't have that problem, of course.   We want to be like everyone else. Some Christians, (even bishops!!) say that Jesus is like everyone else. He is just one of many ways to the divine - and this reduces the Church to one of many faith groups all believing the same thing. Because we are all going the same way, they say.   If Jesus is one of many ways, then we are really no different to everyone else.

When we look at the Epistle to the Romans, comparing that thought with what Romans 3 says, it is not only false to say that Jesus is one of many ways - it is scandalous.

If Jesus is one of many ways to God, what a waste was the spilling of his blood on the Cross!  All of this is only a symptom of the problem.

For as long as I have been a Christians the unbroken teaching of the Church has been undermined by privatization of belief, and the cult of personal opinion - so that if I believe something, it must be true. No sense of the teaching authority handed down from the time of the apostles.   

This emphasis - which goes back to the Reformation - led to an emphasis away from the salvation of souls to the salvation of society.   Our Church has a marvelous record of fighting against the ills of our society; for pointing to the sins that our society.

But the problem is we have forgotten why we should be righting the wrongs of society. And we've also forgotten who told us to do that. The programs have become the ultimate ministry of the Church.  

Ultimately our Church has become part of society - so that our leadership reflects the priorities of society.   Yet from the beginning the Church offered an alternative to society.

Nowadays we see clergy and parishes conforming their beliefs to social norms, to justice and inclusion - providing that they can maintain their style of worship unimpeded. But, as in Matthew 7, if you're only concerned with the style of worship, it is all empty within.

Now we at All Saints can be accused of maintaining a rather particular style of worship - and certainly your Rector would justify that.   But there is a difference. It is not a style of worship. What we do here is to express what the Church believes -to reflect in our worship, and in our ritual, what the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is.  

Even those unsympathetic to ritual will acknowledge that something is happening here, in which we are all involved. And it is all focused on one person - Jesus the Lord. We are honoring him not just as one amongst many ways, but as the one who is THE way.

What is going on here is a presentation in ritual and ceremony of what we heard in Romans 3:

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus".

When I come to Church I want to hear that I am a sinner who has been saved by God's grace, through what Jesus Christ did on the Cross. I don't want to hear about the God within me, or be told that this same Jesus Christ is one of many ways to the divine - for that is surely the ultimate hypocrisy!

But most of all when I come to Church I do want to be able to say "Lord, Lord" - and also to do the will of our Father in heaven.